Chapter thirteen

The ex

The door was open again, and Jackson stared pleadingly at Kassandra. "Come on, Kass," he said. "Five minutes, alright? Just give me five minutes."

She pretended to contemplate his request. "Hmm, how about zero minutes and I don't rip out your liver?" she bartered sarcastically, before making to slam the door shut again.

But Jackson had his hand on the door, doing his best to prevent her from shutting him out. She had forgotten that he wasn't a regular human- he was stronger than any normal human. Still, Kassandra was stronger than him by a landslide.

"Please? Kassie?" he begged, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. "Let me explain myself."

She glowered at him. "Leave, Jackson. Alright? I don't want anything to do with you," she said finally. "And the next time I see you- I'll kill you."

The corner of his mouth turned up in a twisted smile. "Please, Kassandra. Even if you wanted to kill me, we both know you can't. Last time I checked, you don't have a death wish."

Kassandra pursed her lips, trying not to act like she knew he was right. Before Jackson could speak again, Ruby had spoken up. "You have exactly five seconds to get out of my sight before I give you the worst brain aneurysm you've ever had," she spat at her best friend's ex-boyfriend. Then she pulled Kassandra back into the apartment.

Jackson narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare-"

"Five, four, three-" Ruby started counting down in a bored voice.

He took two steps back, but didn't make any move to leave. Jackson decided to call the witch's bluff.

"Two, one, zero." With a sigh, Ruby fixed her gaze on Jackson, and he suddenly dropped to his knees, crying out in pain while clutching his head.

A twisted smirk formed on Kassandra's lips as she watched Jackson, completely enjoying his pain. She couldn't help that she had a sadistic streak in her.

"Okay, Okay! I'll leave! Just- stop it Ruby!" he cried out.

Ruby immediately stopped her magical assault on Jackson's brain. Then she smirked at him. "You ever want more, you just come right on back," she said, before slamming the door in his face.

Kassandra stared at her best friend in awe. "What?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked back to the kitchen.

"You really are a badass, aren't you Ruby?" she asked, trailing behind her, but also listening to Jackson's heartbeat as it disappeared down the hallway and towards the elevator.

Ruby smirked at Kassandra. "You're just realizing that now, are you Kass?" she asked dryly, already pouring herself another cup of coffee.

There was silence as Kassandra bit her lip, thinking about what Ruby had just done. It wouldn't go without its consequences. They both knew that Jackson was untouchable. He knew it too. If he hadn't been, Kassandra would've killed him herself a long time ago.

"You're gonna get in trouble for that, you know," she said finally, meeting Ruby's gaze.

She shrugged. "If his god forsaken pack has any problems with me, they can take it up with my badass witch powers," she said lightly, with a careless shrug of her shoulders as she added sugar and cream into her coffee.

Kassandra didn't miss the flash of concern that was in Ruby's eyes for a split second. But then she blinked her big brown eyes, and it was gone like it had never been there in the first place.

~SYH~

Kassandra stared at her cellphone, eyebrows furrowed, and teeth gnawing on her bottom lip like they always did whenever she was caught in a deep thought.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Elijah last night?"

Ruby walked out of Kassandra's bathroom, dark hair dripping wet, wearing clothes that belonged to the vampire sitting cross legged on the couch.

"You know, your apartment as a shower too. And clothes. Specifically those that belong to you," Kassandra said, not taking her eyes off of her phone.

"Yeah, but then you'd start to miss my wonderful presence, Kass," Ruby quipped, grinning as she sat down on the couch across from the vampire.

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder," Kassandra retorted, but her mind was elsewhere. It was obvious to Ruby. She was caught up in something her best- and only- friend didn't know about.

"And you're trying to distract me from the fact that you're having a staring contest with your phone." Ruby raised an eyebrow. "What's going on Kass? What happened with you and Elijah? For real this time."

Kassandra just sighed heavily. "He hasn't called yet," she said finally, leaning back into the fluffy pillows of the cream colored couch she was sitting on. "And he usually calls by now."

"I'm going to need more details," Ruby said, frowning at Kassandra.

She sighed again, finally deciding to give into Ruby's thirst for knowledge. "After you fell asleep last night, I went to Elijah's, and, long story short, we got into a fight. Well, not really a fight. I sort of yelled at him and stormed out," she explained.

"Why did you get pissed at him?" Ruby asked curiously.

Kassandra ran a hand over her face. "I wanted a distraction from Jackson, so I made a move-"

"Made a move?" Ruby cut her off, raising her eyebrow, face full of disbelief.

"Alright, I jumped him. But then he just pushed me off, saying that he didn't want to take advantage of me when I was clearly a mess. He called me a mess, Ruby. A mess! Not only did Elijah completely embarrass me and make me look like a fool, he insulted me. So I cursed him out and left," she finished heatedly, some of her anger from last night coming back.

"Mm hmm," Ruby said, nodding slightly. But she didn't look entirely convinced.

Kassandra frowned at her. "Why do I have the feeling that you're not on my side?"

"It's not that I'm not on your side, it's that I think you're making a big deal out of nothing, Kass," Ruby explained.

Kassandra narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Oh, am I now?" she asked, gritting her teeth slightly.

"What you might call embarrassing you, others might call acts of a gentleman. And they say chivalry's dead," she added as an afterthought, with a slight chuckle.

"Ruby, I still don't get what you're saying. How is making me look like some groupie, falling all over myself, trying to sleep with him, actually Elijah being a gentleman?" Kassandra asked impatiently, equal parts frustrated and confused.

"He could tell that you weren't yourself, Kassandra. He knew you were in a bad place, and he didn't want to take advantage of that. He didn't want to feel like he was using you, even if he wasn't," she explained.

Kassandra stared blankly at Ruby, who sighed. "Think of it this way, Kass. Elijah is a moral guy, right?" she nodded slowly, and Ruby continued. "Well, how honorable is it to sleep with a woman who is an emotional wreck?"

"Hey now, I was not an emotional wreck," Kassandra defended herself.

Ruby shot her a look and she sighed. "Fine, I get your point. To Elijah, he was just doing the right thing, no matter how annoying that can be."

Ruby nodded and smiled smugly to herself. "So, you know what you got to do now, right?" she asked Kassandra, settling into the pillows behind her.

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me," Kassandra muttered, pushing her blonde hair out of her face.

"You need to go apologize to him, Kass," Ruby said seriously.

Kassandra glowered. "I don't do apologies, Ruby," she said.

"Well, you should start," Ruby said, standing up and running her hands through her damp hair. "Because it'd be a real shame if you lose whatever you had with Elijah just because you hate admitting that you screwed up."

Ruby began to walk towards the front door, and Kassandra glared at her retreating best friend. "I don't hate admitting I screw up, Ruby. Have you met me? I screw up every day, and twice on Sundays," she exclaimed after her.

"Then you should have no problem apologizing to him!" Ruby retorted. "Call me after you and Elijah have apology sex."

The door slammed shut after Ruby, letting Kassandra know that the discussion was closed for arguments.

~SYH~

Kassandra forced herself to knock on Elijah's door. She knew she needed to apologize, she just wasn't the best at apologizing. Hopefully Elijah wouldn't make it too hard on her. Or he wouldn't be home at all, she thought eagerly, when he didn't answer the door.

Unfortunately for Kassandra, the door opened at that moment, revealing Elijah. He didn't look like he usually did- immaculate. His suit was wrinkled, his tie undone, his hair a mess. He looked distracted, very distracted. Kassandra instantly knew that it had less to do with their "fight," and more with his mother and brother that were trying to kill him and his brothers and sister.

"Kassandra." He sounded very surprised to see her, and she offered him a half smile.

"Are you busy?" she asked him, taking note of his frazzled appearance. It was a little unnerving, to see Elijah looking so out of control. He was always in control, of everything. It was something she envied about him.

"Yes, I suppose you could say that." Elijah looked down at the phone in his hand, before putting it in his pocket. "But what do you need, Kassandra?"

She sighed slightly and ran a hand through her hair, before saying, "Can I come in?"

He nodded, and let her pass him and walk into the apartment. She noted that it was also looking a bit messy, just like the original vampire living in it. Before she could talk herself out of it, her apology was flying out her mouth. "I'm sorry, Elijah. Apparently I made a big deal out of something that really wasn't a big deal," she said quickly, refusing to look Elijah in the eyes.

Elijah's lips quirked upwards, just giving a hint of a smile. "I didn't stop you because I wanted you to stop, Kassandra, just remember that," he told her.

She nodded. "I know. You stopped me because it was the 'right thing.'" She rolled her eyes. How hard it must be, to be so moral like Elijah. It required a lot of self-control that Kassandra didn't have, nor would she ever have.

She looked up at him, daring to meet his eyes for the first time. "Do you forgive me?" she asked, hating how she sounded, like his answer would seriously affect her. She hated knowing that it would.

"I was never upset with you in the first place," he answered easily, not missing how her shoulders relaxed slightly in relief.

"Good," she replied, going back to the Kassandra he knew; the snarky, sarcastic Kassandra, who had more guards up than a high security prison. "Because I have enough people holding grudges against me."

Kassandra made herself at home on his couch, and when she got comfortable, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Now, what's wrong with you?" she asked him.

"I wouldn't know what you're talking about, Kassandra," he said evasively.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Please, if nothing's wrong than why do you look like you're the victim of some unfortunate fashion accident?" she asked, standing up and walking over to Elijah.

Kassandra smoothed down his shirt, her fingers quickly doing his tie so that it hung cleanly down his chest. Then her hands reached up to smooth down his messy hair. When she was finished, she smiled slightly. "There," she said. "All better."

Her eyes met his. "Now, tell me what happened," she all but demanded.

Elijah sighed. "It's my mother," he explained. Kassandra wasn't surprised- everything lately had something to do with Esther. "I think she found witches willing to help her and Finn."

Kassandra bit her lip- that wasn't a good thing. "It doesn't matter, though," she said suddenly, in hopes of cheering him up. "The only way to kill you is a spell in my mother's Grimoire, and the only way Esther will get it is to pry it out of my cold, dead hands."

Elijah frowned slightly, jolted by Kassandra's words. The thought of Esther killing Kassandra was just… unthinkable. He'd be damned if he let it come to that.

"And I'm going through all my boxes in New York," she added, bringing his attention back to their conversation. "No luck yet, but I'm having the boxes from my storage unit in Arkansas shipped here. I'll find it, eventually."

Elijah frowned at Kassandra suddenly, noticing that she looked just as distracted as he did. Something was bothering her, and he knew that it had something to do with her ex. "What's wrong, Kassandra?" he asked her.

She opened her mouth to deny that there was something wrong, but then stopped herself. It was only fair that Elijah know her troubles when she knew his. "His name is Jackson," she told him. "My ex's name is Jackson and he's what's wrong."

Elijah's frown deepened. "Is he bothering you?" he asked.

She nodded. "He stopped by my apartment this morning. He wants me to hear him out, but I'm not in the listening mood," she muttered, running a hand over her face as she sat back down on the couch.

Elijah sat down next to her. "Why don't you just-"

"Kill him?" she finished with a twisted smile. "Trust me, if I could, I would, but I can't."

"Why not?" He asked despite himself.

"Jackson's not… human, Elijah," she said. "He knows about vampires and witches and he knows what I am."

Kassandra took a deep breath. "Jackson's a werewolf."

Elijah didn't even have time to process that bit of information, for Kassandra was already talking again. "And not only does he belong to the biggest werewolf pack in North America, his father is the leader of his pack. Jackson's untouchable."

~SYH~

A/N: I AM SO SORRY. It's been a month since I last updated, and that's inexcusable. I'm really, really sorry, but know that I would never give up on this story or any of my stories.

Thank you to: sPaRKzZz, Storylover, SomebodyWhoCares, Lady Wesker, and for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)